A Scanner Darkly

Phillip K. Dick's story 'A Scanner Darkly' is a story about drug adiction. For the moment it can be found at Peek Vids in three parts (here, here and here). It is well worth watching, especially if you've seen some of Richard Linklater's other work (such as Waking Life).

Warning, it won't be up there for long, I suspect, so if you want to watch it do so quickly.

Some stuff from Don Hertzfeldt

Okay, this guy's just odd. Look at his submission to the family learning channel, after he was commisioned by them! And what about his two dimensional interpretation of the third dimension?

That second one kinda reminds me of Imagining the Tenth Dimension.

Eye Popping

Whoa, this is original! Nice stuff and worth a watch. This is what animation is all about, really.

EDIT: Hey, i didn't even realise it's for the new Ipod ripoff by microsoft. Still a good animation, though.

First computer

So you thought computers were invented in the 20th century, did you? Well, you're wrong. The first one was built quite a bit earlier.

Mooched

I have successfully used book mooch for the first time and actually got a book out of it. We're using it as a great way to get rid of some books that we really don't want anymore, but don't just want to throw away. You get 'points' for sending books to people and you can use those, in turn, to get books for yourself. I picked up 'Alice in Wonderland' which I had never read before.

(Click on this link to download the full text in pdf format from project Guttenberg)

From LA to New York

Yes, it's another one of those time laps videos. I'm not convinced it's set to the same time laps the entire trip, though...

Movies!

I've got to push Peek Vid again, becuase they've got a great collection of stuff. Their comic side is great and they've even got full fledged movies. Unfortunately (due to it being illegal to put full length movies on the internet for free) many links don't work, but still worth a try!

Time article about YouTube

Sometimes the old media still has something interesting to say.

Cyber Nation

New game about running your own little nation (you get to decide everything from government type to religion). No pictures, no movies but hey, at least it's multiplayer! I've started my own little African nation called Darka (so you better be my friend, you hear!)

The God who wasn't there

A one hour documentary about Jesus. I guess the title kinda gives away the leaning of the documentary, aye?

I watched the entire thing and I do have to say it's left me with a feeling of dread.

An artistic impression of child labour

Adam Brandejs has made this rather shocking piece on child labour. Thanks to Banana for bringing this post to my attention.

Sign Language Phone

Here's a prototype for a new phone, one that doesn't need buttons but instead understands sign language. Cool concept.

Proxy Surfing

Now here's something truly useful. For those of you accessing the internet from countries that want to control what you access on the internet, here is a list of proxies that you can use to still access those sites. Viva La Resistance!

Free TV content

This site has quite a collection of full length movies, tv serials and a whole lot more. I'm quite impressed. I'll come back to it when I've found some shows really worth seeing.

Vancouver Film School

The Vancouver Film School has placed some of their content on Youtube under one heading and in one place. Sweet!

Apparently Neill Blomkamp (the guy that had been tapped to direct Halo, based on this short film) went there. That's a good thing.

Total Recal

No, not the movie, the possibility. It gives a completely new definition to such things as 'identity theft' doesn't it? Still, I'd be game.

Breath Me (Sai)

Another great music clip idea. I guess art really does beget art.

Kinda reminds me of this short film.

Full Metal Jacket

I wonder if this is the future? Just download a movie from the internet and watch it at home. Well, this one's already here now, so enjoy (yes, it's the full movie, no the quality isn't all that great, but what do you expect. At least it's Stanley Kubrik!)

I'm already torn

Here's a new version of 'I'm already torn'. This guy is incredibly funny, this is a must watch if you're looking for a laugh and I don't normally put comedy up here, so go figure.

7:35 in the morning

I think this is Spanish (don't worry, there is subtitles) and I'm quite convinced it's weird.

Star Guitar (Chemical Brothers)

Another great music clip (remembered this time, not stolen). You might not get it immediately, but I guarantee that you'll be amazed when you do... If you need a hint, see if the music and the scenery might not, well, have something to do with one another. Yeah, that's a pretty big hint and it's a pretty damned good clip too!

Remind Me

Here's a cool music clip that I nicked from flabber.nl (for those of you that can't speak dutch). Do I feel guilty about it? Well, I probably wouldn't have linked to them if I didn't.

Disturbing

I wasn't aware that toys could be this... disturbing. I don't really know what else to say.

Quotes

"War never really decides who is right, only who is left"

-unknown

"A religious war is like people fighting over who has the strongest imaginary friend"

-unknown

"An intelligent man can get himself out of problems that a wise man would never have let himself get into"

-unknown

If anybody can tell me where these quotes come from I would be much obliged. They are good, though.

Animating

Blender is a free source program that is being used to create some very interesting animations. The best one I've seen is definetely The Elephant's dream (warning, the file is huge and will take a long time to load, so go have dinner or something). Others have used it to, so here's a series of wierd stories told using this software (this file is much smaller).

Axe Touch Ad

It's is an old ad, so you might have seen it already, but it remains brilliant. Great concept, well excecuted. Wonderful mix of sureal and sexy.

The Falacies

Do you know what a falacy is? It's a logical or argumentative mistake that many people don't recognise as such because they seem right. If an argumentative is falacious it might seem like a convincing argument, but it is just plain wrong. This guy's gathered together some interesting logical problems that check if your thinking is falacious or if you can avoid some of the more common traps. Cool stuff.

Electric Consciousness

The first self aware robot has been built, according to its builders. It taught itself to walk and learns to adapt to adverse conditions. Should we all scream and run for the door now?

Math Trick

I think using a calculator would be easier, but it seems to work.

Extreme Break Dancing

I realise this isn't actually called break dancing, but I'm the first to admit I don't understand anything about this cultural phenomenon. Hey, at least I still appreciate it!

Ps: wait for the second guy to come on before you turn it off.

Dilbert!

Need I say more?

I've Got the Pain Licked!

Saliva is apparently a pain killer many times more effective than morphine. Who would have thought?

Global Warming

Children say it, Leonardo di Caprio said it in the nineties, the pentagon said as much two years ago, European governments say it, so why won't the White House listen? I guess I know the answer, I guess we all do, too much vested interest. Better to listen to good old fashioned oil companies then future generations, right?

(If that's too many links for you in one article, definitely go and see the one from the UK government, just to warn you, it does take a while to load.)

Complex Problem Solving Visualised

These guys have taken the time to make a visual representation of how complex problem solving should/ can work. Make sure to roll over different parts of the equation to get a better grasp on what it is they are talking about.

134 Podcast Lectures

There's bound to be something useful in a list that long to learn about, especially since you've now accepted that intelligence is malleable (you have, haven't you?)

Rockfish

They're actually planning to make this into a full length movie (I think it's supposed to still be animated). The bad news? Vin Diesel might be in it.

Rocket in a Tunnel

I don't know why, but this is actually pretty cool. Your a rocket and you have to go through a tunnel with many obstructions and that's it. Nothing hyper original, but still a nice game.

Wire Free Electricity

No more electricity wires, ever. Wouldn't that be fantastic? Well, mathmatics and computer models seem to suggest it's possible through electromagnetic resonance. Of course, we haven't even got rid of most of the other wires yet, but still, billiant idea.

Banksy

Guerrilla artist Banksy has made quite a name for himself in England and even America and that while nobody even knows who he is. Guerrilla art, by the way, is art that suddenly appears with the public and the authorities having no prior knowledge. Good stuff, check out his site.

the Malleability of Intelligence

So, not only is intelligence maleable (in other words, not fixed), but apparently realising that intelligence is maleable significantly improves your performance as well as your academic achievements. It has even more affect for people that think they have a racial disadvantage (like discriminated groups and girls).

Interesting, no? Yet another example that we shouldn't underestimate education.

Subjectivity of the Senses

So you really believe that what you see is what you get? Think again, and again. Great displays of how easy it is to fool ourselves into believing a pattern is there that isn't.

Family Guy

Here's a full episode of family guy. Sweet! (If you haven't seen family guy, you've been missing out)

The Kiwi & The Flatback

Poor thing! Great animation, though I'm not quite sure if I should be happy or sad. Definitely worth a watch.

And then there is this one, a little more abstract but you know that's what I like.

A Laptop for Every Child

One laptop for every child. Sound like a dream? Well, that dream just came one step closer. They've just successfully made a special laptop that only costs $130 US and only uses 10% of the electricity that a normal laptop does. Now it will just be a matter of spreading them to those children that need them most.

Egalitarian

e·gal·i·tar·i·an [i-gal-i-tair-ee-uhn]

–adjective
1.
asserting, resulting from, or characterized by belief in the equality of all people, esp. in political, economic, or social life. –noun
2.
a person who adheres to egalitarian beliefs.

from dictionary.com

Why We Need the Ability to Protest

Eventually the checks and balances of the state will fail. Now there are many reasons why this might happen. But let’s sum it up by saying sometimes – maybe through human oversight or through the ability of some people to bamboozle others – a person might get into power who shouldn’t be there.

They might be corrupt, they might be stupid, or (most dangerously) they might well have the best intentions for the country in mind, but their methods are inappropriate or misguided.

Initially it is the government’s job to find these dangerous individuals and either correct their behaviour or, barring that, throw them out of power and most of the time a good government will do exactly that. The problem is that sometimes these individuals are so convincing or ruthless that they unbalance the checks and balances installed to keep them under control. When this happens the government will be hijacked by special interests and no longer represent the true will of the people.

At this point a possibility must exist for the people to voice their grievances without, and this is the important part, without needing to use governmental channels, since these have been taken over by these special interests.

What is more, it is very likely that the special interest group will try to sabotage the people’s ability to speak out, so before they get into power it is essential that a robust system of speaking out and speaking your mind exists. Only in this way will the people, who themselves elected the government, be able to keep their government accountable.

Flow

Very interesting game about growth and evolution. Winner of the 'Game of the Month' award at EDGE magazine.

Xbox 360 banned ad

Great ad for the (now not so new) 360. Very original representation of the xbox world.

Human constructs

First we have the human snowball Good idea, well executed. Didn't exactly blow me away, but still very cool. The second is this pepsi ad, which is also not bad. Still, I have the feeling this concept has more potential than this.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

This was probably the first distopia book that I ever read. I found it online a while ago for free, but then managed to lose it again. Today I found it back, courtesy of this website, which lists a 119 research tools that go beyond the 8 billion pages that Google has access to. (Apparently, or so that page claims, there might be 500 times as much as what Google has access to on the internet).

I've decided to add the research page to my link bar on the left.

Great blog with great links

I have to give credit where credit is due and say that a great deal of my good content I blatantly stole from Gravity Lens. I've had their link in my side bar all this time, but I thought I should also plug them here, to alay my guilt (as it's not going to do much else!). So go check it out for science and fiction based content.

Alternative Reality Gaming

I've never heard of this before! It's some kind of gaming culture that is somehow related to the real world, but not. Check out this User Guide for more information and you can look at links to ARGs here at the ARGNet. I have no idea what to think, but I certainly think it's interesting.

Economics for the citizen

Here is a ten part series of essays about some basic economic principles for those of us who don't want a PhD, but wouldn't mind understanding just a bit more about market mechanics. It's always a good idea to have a better understanding of the system that indirectly or directly influences every aspect of your life, don't you think?

Robo Football!

Robots are still so far behind us in some areas. I wonder when the breakthrough will come? Read here about the robo worldcup in germany and here's a cool (and funny!) video with robots playing football (and falling over).

Time perception

New research into the nature of time perception is revealing some interesting things. Though it might not be possible to actually stretch time yet, it might be possible to at least alter your perception of how much time has passed! Now we'll just have to learn how to do more in that time.

Arthur C. Clarke

"any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"

- Arthur C. Clarke

Find his wikipedia entry here and find more quotes from the good man here.

Top 5

I've decided to create a top 5 in my links bar. When ever I find something I like better than what I've got in there, I'll just change the list! So look there regularly for updates. My top 5 links to blog entries, which in turn will have links to what ever website I thought was amazing. Why do I do that? Well, just to keep you on my blog longer, why else?

Virtual Keyboards

This is the invention I've been waiting for! No more need for a physical keyboard! Now to get rid of the screen and relocate the actual processors to somewhere not on your person.

Metalosis Maligna

Very cool short mockumentary about a new disease called Metalosis Maligna. It's a metalic disease that comes about through mutation of implants. I think I'll have to watch these guys for more interesting stuff.

UPDATE: the mockumentary link above is broken! Go here to see the mockumentary again.

Imagining the Tenth Dimension

I think I'll have to watch this another 9 times before I get it, but it still blew my mind. Go to this site and click the flash link 'imaging the tenth dimension' and just watch. If you get it, please be so kind as to explain it to me.

Youth and the internet

Here's an interesting article about where youth go on the Internet. To sum it up in a few words, they are fickle and by the time the corporations have figured out what site is hot, it is probably already a not. Fashion trends are glacial compared to the rate teens change tastes.

Cognitive biases

The subjectivity, objectivity argument is an important one. For that reason people have gone through considerable lengths to describe all the possibible bias traps that we can let ourselves fall into if we don't watch out. If you don't know them, how will you judge whether you're being as objective as you can be?

The Responsibility of the Moderate

I believe moderates of any belief system should be held responsible for the actions of the extremists. Yes, that’s a strong claim, let me tell you why I believe it.

First and foremost, it is the moderates that create an environment out of which the extremists spring forth. It is moderates general tolerance that gives the extremists the room to manoeuvre and ultimately do harm. If the moderates wouldn’t exist that would first of all limit the number of extremists and secondly leave them far more exposed as their beliefs would appear far more abnormal, even to themselves.

Secondly, extremists will never listen to any people who are not at least moderately of their belief (and even then, their listening is limited). How ever much outsiders might be appalled by the behaviour of the extremists, it is only the moderates who have any chance of reigning in their extremist fringes. By not doing so, the moderates are complicit by silent consent.

If the moderates do not monitor extremist groups forming and, failing that, controlling those groups once they’ve formed then these moderates cannot say that they have nothing to do with those groups’ actions. They should instead be held responsible and be held accountable.

A new look at piracy

An alternative view on movie piracy. I'm not sure if you should let yourself be convinced by this, but it is definitely food for thought. For one thing, there is probably currently as much creativity in You tube in one day as the movie studios manage to produce in a year and there is probably a good reason for that.

Traffic in the Sky

Here's the air traffic over America depicted in an animation. This is apparently really used by the U.S. Federal Aviation. It's both interesting in an artistic sense and as a reality adjuster. That's a lot of planes and, by extention, a lot of polution.

Human Upgrades

One day stuff like this might not just be a joke. At least, I think it's a joke. Or I hope it's a joke! If it is, it's a damned elaborate one!

One red paperclip

Kyle MacDonald turned a red paperclip into a house in one year through 14 trades, trading up each time. As a result he's made it into the news and has become a bit of a celebrity.

There is a lesson to be learned here. Something about the ease with which it can all be done with a good idea and some good publicity. I'll get back to you on that one when I've got a better idea what I'm talking about.

Virtual Time Capsule

An internet time capsule is being created and you've only got two days left to contribute! I'm suspecting that you can look at it a whole lot longer than that and if you are late for the contribution, well I'm sure you can still contribute to next years.

Good idea, though. I've always enjoyed the idea of time capsules. I'm even writing letters to myself ten years from now (one each birthday).

A picture a day

This guy has decided to draw a picture a day. Granted, it's not the most original idea, but it is still interesting to watch how a drawing or a 3d model is put together, especially for us untallented types who find drawing a straight line about as easy as actually flying by flapping your arms.

Virtual Bill of Rights

So what rights do you think every netizen should have? The right to expression? Freedom from discrimination? Protection from abuse and foul language?

Should those rights be inshrined in international law? Is the internet another domain entirely? Should we see it as its own country? Should we even go there?

Should we write a Bill of Rights for the internet?

Draw together

Here's a nifty little website called Imagination Cubed that I found mentioned on the BBC Click website and then blatantly stole. It allows you to get together with friends miles away and actually draw pictures. First off course you've got to have friends, so I haven't been able to try it out, but it should be good fun for people who can draw a straight line.

External hard drives of the mind

I don’t like libraries. It’s not that I have something against the concept of libraries, it’s more that I do not agree how that concept has been executed. The rules have usurped the intention.

That’s why I like ideas like Book Mooch, where you send and receive books, which are then yours to do with as you please. Keep and read again and again the ones you like, redistribute the ones you don’t. Good idea, wonder if this one works in practice.

Oh God, I think I'm an Atheist

Most people talk about what they take away with them from a trip abroad. It seems I am not most people, for I would like to explain what I left behind. I left behind my belief in a God. On my trip I brought Richard Dawkins' book 'The God Delusion', which, as you can probably tell, is his attempt to show that there are good and valid arguments for why you don't need to believe in a God to have a carefully thought out and agreeable perspective on the world around you. In fact, he even argues that to believe in God demonstrates that you really haven't thought things out far enough.

He convinced me. From my position in the middle (around that vague area called agnosticism) he pulled me sharply to the atheist camp. Now I don't think anybody is completely convinced there is no God (that is where reason is overtaken by another form of fundamentalism), but he took me just short of as close as you can go.

Now I foretell right now that I'm going to get a lot of flak for this in the future, but I believe am now an Atheist.

Spray Paint Art

I don't actually like this guy's art, but I certainly admire how he makes it. If you're into fantasy landscapes and deep space images (or you admire somebody with artistic ability) check out this link, this one, oh yeah, and this one.

Downloading your mind

Within most of our lifetimes computer technology and neuroscience might have advanced far enough that they will be able to merge. Then brains might be downloadable and our thoughts enhanceable. Barring a mainframe crash that could mean immortality (that is, if you believe the brain is all there is to you). What do you think about that?

Perfect Pictures for an Imperfect World

This ad doesn't just tell one story in 37 seconds, it tells about five. Very effective ad. I truly believe more credit should be given to well made ads. That way we might not have to watch so many bad ones!

Stop Motion Photography

Directly found something wierd and interesting to throw at you. It's called 'Waking up in a Morgue' and it's been shot in stop motion (which is one of those interesting art forms that we see little enough of that it remains fresh).

Back

I just arrived back from Vietnam. I'm not sure what to think, though I enjoyed it. Let me dwell on it for a few days and then get back to you. Admittedly, however, Banana will do a much better job of telling you the what and how, so look there over the next days (weeks?) for updates about our Vietnam perspective.

As for my silence during that period, it was by choice. I just did not have any urge to come close to a computer and I'm quite glad to say that I didn't spend more than ten minutes on one for the entire last twelve days.